The Chief of Defense staff (CDS), Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh has stated that the military is positively engaging with other sectors in Nigeria and the West African sub-region, including Chief of Defence staff to identify areas of cooperation to curb insecurity and promote democracy in the sub-region. This statement was contained in the remarks made by the CDS while receiving a delegation of the National Institute of Legislature Studies (NILS) led by the Director General, Dr. Ladi Hamalai at the Defence Headquarters recently.
Efforts of the Institute and its achievements were lauded by the CDS who also assured the DG that the Nigerian military would partner with the institute through its Department of Civil Military Relations.
Speaking during the visit, Hamalai stated that the NILS is mandated to provide human and information resources to facilitate legislative processes and to build capacity by providing training programmes that are certificated under the aegis of the University of Benin and accredited by the National University Commission. The Institute, Hamalai added, also provides back-up services for state legislative assemblies. She further disclosed that the institute was working to develop strategies and policies that will encompass all major stakeholders in the polity, with a view to facilitating appropriate engagement between the military and the civil populace to engender favorable atmosphere for defending and sustaining democratic processes.
The Director General also invited the Defence Headquarters to participate in a program tagged “Parliamentary Security Summit” organized by the Institute in collaboration with the ECOWAS parliament, under the auspices of NILS CAP. She informed that the program will focus on capacity building as well as bring major stakeholders together at both national and sub-regional levels to deliberate on ways and means of solving security challenges vis-a-vis the threat to democracy in the sub-region.
The visit provided ample opportunity for an interactive session between the principal staff officers of the Defence Headquarters and the management of the Institute.
